My January 2013 Favorites

I'm so excited i get to do this kind of "monthly favorites" post, now i guess i have officially joined the beauty blogger community (woohoo!). So January has passed, and i have a few new items i got to try. Some were alright, not the best but others i found to be my new go-to. I was in search for a new lotion that's pure organic or at least has more natural ingredients (i am currently slowly switching all my beauty/skin care products to natural cruelty free paraben free products and all that sort of stuff, it's part of my new years resolution!). 

While doing research, i bumped into this AHAVA skin care, where they use natural active dead sea minerals as their main ingredients. Then i remember once my mom was telling me about how good and amazing dead sea minerals are for our skin, they have the main supplement for maintaining a healthy skin. So i ordered it online from id.strawberrynet.com. The honeysuckle and lavender scent is lovely, it doesn't have that strong scent since i'm not fond of lotions that has scent that can overbear your personal smell or it beats your parfume, now this one doesn't actually do that. It feels light and velvety, very moisturizing but doesn't leave a greasy feeling afterwards. I think it's great use for summer or for someone like me who lives in a tropical weather and the 400ml bottle is such a great deal. I say this is my current favorite for body lotions! 

As for my hair, i'm sure i'm not the only breastfeeding mum that experience hair loss and i was kind of freaking out at first so i did a little research to cure my little problem. They say biologically, our body is releasing some sort of hormones to regain the vitality back, the hair loss is actually a sign of "renewal" so that new roots are replacing the old ones that's why we have hair loss. But of course i feel i could help encourage this renewal process by actually taking care of it, and again i was curious to find out more about another french brand PHYTO that caught my attention. The first thing that i like is of course the ingredients they use is plant based which is just perfect! I don't know what is it with french brands but most of their pharmacy brands are so gentle and chemical free, i found my self drawn into more and more of their products, i mean, what's there not to love? 

Generally, my scalp can get oily but my ends are pretty dry so sometimes after i wash my hair it gets frizzy during the day it is so annoying i ALWAYS keep a small comb in my bag if i forgot to bring it i instantly panic. Anyways as a starter, i decided to try out PHYTO creme de jour. The texture is like a light cream and it does feel a bit like a serum, you just need like pea size and it goes all the way focusing on my ends. The smell is slightly herbal (you can instantly feel its plant-derived). The thought that this thing is silicon free, sulfates free, and it seems to be non toxic it just fits to my liking. I finally found a hair product that is gentle and actually 'takes care' of my hair. I am definitely going to continue trying out more of their products! 

The KORRES lip butter glaze is my recent favorite among my other lip balms from this line, it's nos doubt i am highly addicted to everything about KORRES. The mango butter lip balm jars are amazing but i was never fond of dipping my fingers in lip balms i always feel it's a little disgusting and non hygienic. So when i found out the wild rose lip balms also come in a tube, why not give it a go? It's definitely a January favorites. For the other products i loved last month was the MAC lipstick in fanfare, the color just looks easy and natural for me, REVLON nails in minted, BOBBI BROWN shimmer brick which honestly i very rarely use but last month i tried to play more with it. The last one of my recent moisturizer purchase is the LA ROCHE POSAY hydreane legere (another french pharmacy brand), after a month of using this product i'd have to say i like my AVENE hydrance optimale SPF 25 hydrating creme better (another french pharmacy brand!). The La Roche posay hydreane legere feels a tad heavier than the Avene and the downside it doesn't have spf which the Avene does. So i guess once i finish i'm definitely going to repurchase the Avene again, but the La Roche Posay does the job for now. So that was my January favorites!

Products mentioned above and where you can find them online:

1. AHAVA lavender & honeysuckle botanic body lotion

2. PHYTO Creme de jour

3. KORRES lip butter glaze in wild rose

4. MAC lipstick in fanfare 

5. BOBBI BROWN rose shimmer brick

6. LA ROCHE POSAY hyreane legere

THE NO MAKE UP DEWY LOOK

So i haven't been out for like ages, my kid had a terrible horrifying cough and blocked nose so i caught the terrible fever from her which made us a house prisoner for like almost two boring weeks. Last Saturday night we (me and husband) finally had a night out meeting my best friends, of course i had to drag him since he's been on a juice fast as in he's on a detox means no food at all other than drinking juice (yeah he's crazy but crazy amazing!) i don't know how he does it but it seems working, he's lost five kg's only within five freakin days! 

Enough with the update about the husband, so short story i was excited to be putting make up again on my face (sounds a bit too shallow isn't it hahaha). I was after the natural no make up dewy radiant look since i had been feeling a little bit under the weather, my face was also looking a little swollen from the flu recovery. I needed to feel uplifted again, so i figured i'd use my favorite highlighters which is the benefit high beam and ysl touche eclat which is my go to for brightening under the eyes, just perfect for my puffy eyes. 

This is what i eventually worked on my face: as usual i start with a moisturizer, Avene hydrance legere spf 20 (i usually use this in the morning during the day but i felt like something just light to moisturize my face in the evening) and then i work through the other bases with lioele rich pore balm to cover my t-zone, lioele shimmer blooming pearl base only on my cheekbones area. Then i rub one my of loveliest BB Cream in luminous silk from Holika holika, this is their only BB cream product that contains no parabens (but i LOVE their Aqua petit jelly for during the day!), i found the luminous silk just perfect for an evening out, it gives more natural coverage without looking cakey. Trust me, if you are after a BB cream, go with the Korean brands, they're the first to create with the idea of BB creams.To finish up with my base, i swirl my favorite  brush the real techniques brush to my KORRES wild rose mineral foundation powder (i'm in medium beige) and work it through my face, believe me, i have SO MUCH LOVE for this powder foundation! For covering my acne scars and dark spots i use the bourjois healthy mix (i love this more than my MAC select cover up, it just perfectly blends in to my skin flawlessly) and for the final covering, i dab on the YSL Touche eclat (in number 1,5) just right under my eyes and voila my eyes looked ready to go!.

After i was done with the bases, i put on the eye primer Stay don't stray from Benefit and i just use my ring finger to gently put Benefit high beam on my eyelid since i didn't feel like using any eye shadows that night. I couldn't have a night out without an eye liner so i use my number one favorite eye liner, it's the Bobbi brown gel eyeliner in the color graphite shimmer ink (i wasn't feeling having a striking eyes so i avoided the blank color). For final touch up on the eyes, i use the Mac eye shadow in white frost in the corner of my eyes to enhance the reflecting light. 

Enough with the eyes (i purposely didn't use mascara in case you were wondering), one of the things i love about the Benefit high beam i can use it anywhere i want, but of course the fun part is putting it on the top of my cheek bones! For blush i used my Bobbi brown Pot Rouge lips and cheeks in powder pink no.6 which the creamy texture goes perfectly with the Benefit high beam to give that healthy natural dewy look. 

Last bit is the lips, i went with NYX in midnight dinner which is a gorgeous dark fuschia with a little hint of red vampy. I love NYX lipsticks but i found it can be a bit smudgy throughout the night where you need to fix it and layer it again one more time. Nevertheless, it is very pigmented and extremely moisturizing which is great for the price if you are looking for an affordable great lipstick! To moisturize my lips i pop in the KORRES lip butter glaze in wild rose, the perfect matching color with the NYX lipstick (i am absolutely hooked on KORRES i try every single one of their products, i will give another blog post on them if you like!) 

So, that was it on my face and by the way, i had an amazing time with my girls catching up and laughing on the silliest things. oh i just love them!

Products mentioned above and where you can get them online:

1. AVENE hydrance legere SPF 20

2. Lioele Rich pore balm

3. Lioele shimmer blooming pearl base

4. Holika Holika Luminous silk (i'm in shade#2 natural beige)

5. KORRES wild rose mineral foundation (i'm in medium beige)

6. Bourjois healthy mix foundation (you can easily find it in drugstores like WATSON)

7. YSL Touche eclat 

8. Benefit stay dont stray eye primer (not sure if they ship to Indonesia)

9. Benefit High beam highlighter

10. Bobbi Brown gel eye liner

11. MAC eye shadow

12. Bobbi Brown pot rouge lipstick & cheeks (not sure if they ship to Indonesia)

13. NYX lipstick in midnight dinner

14. KORRES lip butter glaze in wild rose

15. Real Techniques brush buffing brush from the Core collection set 

The 2012 biggest beauty discovery

HANDS DOWN, this is definitely one of my biggest, wait, let me correct that, THE BIGGEST beauty discovery in 2012. It all started around mid year of 2012 where i stumbled upon this brand from Greece called KORRES. The first thing that caught my attention was the mango butter lip balms which I LOVE (my favorite is in the wild rose and pomegranate) and then i started doing some more research on their brand like their mission background and stuff. Turns out i fell in love with it deeper knowing the ingredients they use and their philosophy. Speaking of ingredients, a little background i must share that during my 'new phase of new addiction' i was also obsessed on switching to natural/organic products that is also paraben free. So, when i found KORRES and started learning about their products, it was just like THIS IS IT. The lip balms were the first products i tried (i will post another review on them!) and then their body care is also great its one of their best sellers. But not until i was curious to try their mineral foundation which i thought would probably be'so-so', at that time i was loving my bare minerals matte but then i decided to give it a go. By the way unfortunately we don't have a KORRES store in my country, hopefully soon though!, so i had to order KORRES online (through id.strawberry or sometimes amazon). The first time i tried to apply this to my face i used the real techniques brush and i didn't have high expectations BUT to my surprise the texture feels so light and it glides in my skin so well. The most amazing thing it gives a natural flawless look with a medium coverage (which is perfect for me, but it is buildable!). I was like. whoaa...this isn't what i expected. It is just the perfect powder foundation especially living in tropical weather where you can feel cakey wearing make up because of the sweat and humidity during the day. KORRES mineral foundation is such a breath of fresh air, not only it is much cheaper than the bare minerals, it is 100% natural. Currently i am hooked with everything about KORRES, and at the moment their mineral foundation is my go to foundation if i feel like dressing up a little (i don't normally wear foundation on a daily basis i think i am just blessed i don't have a reason to cover so much). If you are looking for a lightweight sheer foundation then you should definitely give this baby a try, because for me, KORRES, you really rock my world! 

check out their official website: http://www.korres.com/

note: sephora also carry them (not sephora singapore though such a shame!)

Products mentioned above and where you can get them online:

KORRES wild rose mineral foundation